When It’s a Wonderful Life first opened in 1946, it was not a hit at the box office, and reception was more decidedly mixed. Director Frank Capra has also found that his reputation as a major Hollywood filmmaker was declining, but in spite of this, the film still went on to receive several Academy Award nominations, including one for Best Picture. But the film did not quite hit legendary status until repeated airtime on television after having fallen into the public domain had later saved the film. Since then, we’ve also come to recognize It’s a Wonderful Life not only as one of the greatest Christmas films ever made, but a staple of American cinema at that. It’s not hard to see why, because its message has only ever remained eternal.

The tone is set perfectly by the moment where the film starts, and we’re hearing prayers from the townspeople for the life of George Bailey (James Stewart). It doesn’t take too long for the prayers to be answered, but it’s that moment onward we see everything that George had stood for all his life. As a young boy, he saved the life of his younger brother at the cost of his hearing in his left ear. As an adult, he devoted his life to ensuring that all the residents in Bedford Falls were able to live happily, effectively making him a town hero while the unscrupulous Henry F. Potter had hoped more than anything to run the Bailey Brothers Building and Loan out of business.

But even leading up to the core story element that we most hear about It’s a Wonderful Life for, all these supposedly small moments in George Bailey’s life play a very important role before we get to the kicker. From the first moment where George stops pharmacy owner Mr. Gower from poisoning prescribed medicine for a customer, the time he meets Mary Hatch and eventually marries her, to the moment when he is put in charge of the Bailey Brothers Building and Loan, and the establishment of Bailey Park – the very impression that we get of George is that he’s a man who wanted nothing but the absolute best out of everyone around himself, even if it means he’d sacrifice his own education as well as a planned honeymoon with Mary.

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